Bakery delivery and merchandising system

ABSTRACT

A tray assembly includes a tray having a base, a pair of opposed side walls extending upward from side edges of the base. Front and rear walls extend upward from front and rear edges of the base. The front and rear walls are substantially shorter than the side walls. A liner has a base wall and a pair of opposed side walls. The liner is removably received within the tray. The product in the tray can be removed all at once along with the liner for more efficient stocking at a store.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.61/766,042, filed Feb. 18, 2013 and U.S. Provisional Application No.61/838,221, filed Jun. 21, 2013, the entirety of which is hereinincorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

The present invention provides a system and its components fordelivering and merchandising goods, particularly baked goods, such asbread.

Plastic bakery trays are often used to delivery bakery items, such asbread, buns, etc from the bakery to stores. At the store, a workerunloads the bakery items from the trays and places the bakery items onshelves for the customers to purchase. The empty bakery trays arereturned to the bakery for reuse.

Move the bakery items one at a time from the bakery trays to the storeshelves is time consuming, especially since care must be used not todamage the bakery items.

SUMMARY

A tray assembly includes a tray having a base, a pair of opposed sidewalls extending upward from side edges of the base. Front and rear wallsextend upward from front and rear edges of the base. The front and rearwalls are substantially shorter than the side walls. A liner has a basewall and a pair of opposed side walls. The liner is removably receivedwithin the tray. The product in the tray can be removed all at oncealong with the liner for more efficient stocking at a store.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawings can be briefly described as follows:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a bakery tray assembly according to afirst embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the assembly of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a drawer.

FIG. 4 shows a plurality of the drawers of FIG. 3 installed on storeshelves.

FIG. 5 is a front view of the drawer of FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 shows the drawer of FIG. 5 with product loaded therein.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a pallet that can be used with the traysdisclosed herein.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a tray according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 9 is an exploded view of the tray of FIG. 8 with a liner.

FIG. 10 is an assembled view of the tray and liner of FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 shows a plurality of liners as they could be stacked.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of a tray assembly according to anotherembodiment.

FIG. 13 shows the tray assembly of FIG. 12 with the upper portions ofthe liner folded inward.

FIG. 14 shows two of the liners of FIG. 13 stacked.

FIG. 15 shows a tray assembly according to another embodiment.

FIG. 16 is an exploded view of the tray assembly of FIG. 15.

FIG. 17 is a perspective view of the liner of FIG. 15

FIG. 18 shows three of the liners of FIG. 17 stacked.

FIG. 19 shows the liners of FIG. 18 loaded onto store shelves.

FIG. 20 shows two of the liners of FIG. 18 on angled shelves.

FIG. 21 is a perspective view of a tray according to another embodiment.

FIG. 22 is a perspective view of a liner according to anotherembodiment.

FIG. 23 shows the liner of FIG. 22 being inserted into the tray of FIG.21.

FIG. 24 shows the liner of FIG. 22 inserted into the tray of FIG. 21.

FIG. 25 is a perspective view of a tray according to another embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a bakery tray 10 includes a base 12. A frontwall 14 having a dropped portion or opening providing access to the tray10, extends upward from a front edge of the base 12. Side walls 18extend upward from side edges of the base 12. A rear wall 16 extendsupward from a rear edge of the base 12. The side walls 18 areapproximately twice the height of the front wall 14 and rear wall 16. Asshown, the side walls 18 may be configured to provide a first stackingheight when oriented the same as a tray (not shown) on which it isstacked and a second stacking height when oriented 180 degrees relativeto the tray (not shown) on which it is stacked. As is commonly known,the entire tray 10 is preferably injection molded as a single-piece ofplastic.

The front wall 14 and rear wall 16 are each double walls, or canalternatively be considered to have an interior wall and a lip spacedoutward from the interior wall and joined by vertical ribs. Thisprovides stiffness to the front and rear walls 14, 16 despite theirsignificantly reduced height. Additionally, the front wall 14 can havinga dropped portion of even further reduced height to facilitate theremoval of product from the tray 10. Optionally, the rear wall 16 canalso have a dropped portion.

The side walls 18 each include an upper portion 20 protruding outwardfrom an interior wall 22. Below the upper portion 20, a plurality offeet 24 project outward from the interior wall 22. As is common, thefeet 24 align with pockets 26 on the side walls 18 of an identical tray.The pockets 26 on the side walls 18 have different depths and the feet24 on one side wall 18 are positioned differently than on the other sidewall 18, such that the tray 10 will stack at two different heights on anidentical tray 10 by rotating the trays 180 degrees relative to oneanother. Flange portions 30 project inward from the side walls 18 alongthe front wall 14 and the rear wall 16.

As is shown, the tray 10 accommodates a removable liner 40. The liner 40includes a base wall 42, a rear wall 46 and side walls 48. The frontedge of the liner 40, opposite rear wall 46, may be open as shown.Handle openings 50 may be provided through the side walls 48. As shownin FIG. 2, the liner 40 is removable from the tray 10. The liner 40 isformed as a single piece of plastic, such as by thermoforming orinjection molding. The base wall 42 of the liner 40 is approximately thesame size as the base 12 of the tray 10, such that the liner 40 fitswithin the interior space of the tray 10 without wasting space and theside walls 48 of the liner 40 abut the side walls 18 of the tray 10 andthe rear wall 46 of the liner 40 abuts the rear wall 16 of the tray 10.

In use, a plurality of items, such as loaves of bread, can be placed inthe tray 10 on the liner 40. Trays 10 of bread are shipped to a store.The delivery person can lift a plurality of loaves of bread out of thetray 10 at once by lifting the liner 40 out of the tray 10. The loavescan be slid onto a shelf all at once from the front edge of the liner40. Thus, the delivery person does not have to lift each loaf of breadout of the tray 10 one at a time.

A drawer 60 is shown in FIGS. 3-6. The drawer 60 is injection molded orthermoformed of a single piece of plastic. The drawer 60 includes a basewall 62. A rear wall 66 and side walls 68 protrude upward from rear andside edges of the base wall 62, respectively. A front lip 64 protrudesdownward from the front edge of the base wall 62. Handle openings 70 maybe formed in the side walls 68. As shown in FIG. 4, drawers 60 may besecured to shelves 80 in a store. The drawers 60 may be secured to rails82, 84 or track so that the drawers 60 may be pulled out (the bottomdrawer 60 is shown pulled out, the upper drawer 60 is show retracted).In the outward position, the drawer 60 can be more easily loaded withitems. As an example, the loaves of bread can be slid from the liner 40of FIGS. 1-2 directly into the drawer 60. The drawers 60 are sized toreceive the same number of items as the liner 40 and tray 10. The base62 is approximately the same dimensions as the base 42 of the liner 40(FIG. 2).

FIG. 5 is a front view of the drawer 60 when empty. FIG. 6 is a frontview of the drawer 60 loaded with items, such as loaves 88 of bread, forsale to customers in a store, such as a grocery store.

FIG. 7 shows a plastic pallet 90. The pallet 90 may be referred to as a“half-pallet,” as it is half the size of a standard size pallet and morethan twice as long as it is wide. The pallet 90 includes an upper deck92 and columns 94 supporting the deck 92. In this pallet 90, the columns94 are spaced inward from the perimeter of the deck 92, such that forksof a lift may lift the pallet 90 below the deck 92 outward of thecolumns 94. Pockets 96 are formed in the deck 92 for receiving thecolumns 94 of an identical pallet 90 to reduce stacking height when thepallets 90 are empty. The pallet 90 is sized to accommodate two stacksof the trays 10 (FIGS. 1-2). The stacks of trays 10 can be shipped to astore on the pallet 90, unloaded with a lift and wheeled into the storeon the lift. The trays 10 (FIG. 1) can then be unloaded by emptying theliners 40 into the drawers (FIG. 4).

FIG. 8 is a second embodiment of a tray 210. Because the tray 210 willbe used with a liner, the base 212 can be minimized. In the tray 210shown, the base 212 includes some more dense rib structured areas 220along the front wall 214 and rear wall 216 and more dense rib structuredareas 222 along the side walls 218. Between these structured areas 220,222, however, minimal rib structure forms the majority of the base 212,covering less than 15% of the base 212 area. The exact amount of ribs inthe base 212 will depend upon the particular application, but it issignificantly reduced compared to standard bakery trays. The largeopenings in the base 12 forming a large majority of the area of the basedo not damage the product because the liner will cover them and providea smooth surface for supporting the product.

Optionally, to further reinforce the tray 210, a reinforcement member226 may be inserted within the front wall 214 and/or rear wall 216. Thereinforcement member 226 could be steel tube or rod, or other metal, orcomposite material that provides increased stiffness to the tray 210.The reinforcement members 226 may be insert-molded with the tray 210 orinserted into the walls 214, 216 after the tray 210 is injection molded.The front wall 214 and rear wall 216 are each double walls (i.e. theyeach include an interior wall and a lip spaced outward of the interiorwall and extending downward), so the reinforcement members 226 can beaccommodated between them.

FIG. 9 shows a liner 240 being inserted into the tray 210. The liner 240includes a base wall 242, side walls 248 and a rear wall 246. The frontof the liner 240 may optionally be open (without a wall) as shown tomake it easier to remove product from the liner 240. Handle openings 250are formed through each side wall 248.

FIG. 10 shows the liner 240 within the tray 210. As shown, the liner 240does not noticeably reduce the volume of the tray 210. The lack of afront wall on the liner 240 leaves the window opening through the frontwall 214 completely unobstructed.

As shown in FIG. 11, when the liners 240 are removed from theirrespective trays 210 (not shown) and stacked one upon the other, theupper tray 240 would be stacked on the product (not shown) in the lowertray 240. The surface area of the upper tray 240 protects the product(e.g. baked items) in the lower tray 240 from damage.

In FIG. 12, another liner 340 is shown in the tray 210. The liner 340includes a base wall 342, side walls 348 and a rear wall 346. The sidewalls 348 are taller than the side walls 218 of the tray 210. The sidewalls 348 each include an upper portion 350 hingeably (foldably)connected to a lower portion 352. The handle openings may be positionedin the upper portions 350. Again, the liner 340 may be a thermoformedplastic sheet.

As shown in FIG. 13 with product (not shown) in the tray 210 and liner340, the upper portions 350 of the side walls 348 can be folder over theproduct. This permits the trays 210 to stack on one another for shippingand storage. When removing the liners 340 from the trays 210, the upperportions 350 can be folded upward again, so that they can be lifted bythe handles.

Further, as shown in FIG. 14, after being removed from the trays 210 forplacement on the store shelves, the liners 340 can be stacked on oneanother with the upper liner 340 stacked on the folded-over upperportions 350 of the side walls 348 to reduce the weight of the upperliner 340 on the product in the lower liner 340. At least some of theweight of the upper tray 210 and product therein is transferred to theside walls 348 of the lower tray 210.

A liner 440 according to another embodiment is shown in FIG. 15 in thetray 210. The liner 440 may be plastic, such as by thermoforming orinjection molding. The base 442 may have large, easy corrugations or asomewhat low-amplitude, low-frequency sinusoidal patterns in the base442 forming slight peaks and valleys. This increases the stiffness ofthe base 442. The liner 440 includes a base 442, side walls 448, rearwall 454 and an open front end. The liner 440 is shown in more detail inFIG. 16 and in FIG. 17. A flange extends perpendicularly from each sidewall 448 partially across the rear wall 454. As shown in FIG. 18, theliners 440 can be stacked upon one another on a store shelf with product(not shown) in them for display and sale. FIG. 19 shows a plurality ofthe liners 440 loaded onto store shelves 80. As explained above, this isa very quick and efficient way to load the stores shelves 80 withproduct (not shown) from the trays 210 (FIG. 16).

As shown in FIG. 20, the liners 440 could be loaded onto angled shelves180 with the rear walls 454 at the bottom of the slope to preventproduct from sliding off the shelves 180.

FIG. 21 shows an alternate tray 310. The tray 310 is generally asdescribed above with respect to trays 10, 110 and 210 except as isotherwise described or shown in the drawings. Again, the base 312 couldbe minimized because it is used with a liner. In this tray 310, the sidewalls 318 are double walls having an inner wall 321 and an outer wall319. There are ribs (not shown) extending vertically between the innerwall 321 and outer wall 319 for strength. The side walls 318 can bemolded with projections from the mold extending between the inner wall321 and outer wall 319. This can leave a smooth exterior surface on theouter wall 319. In this embodiment, the front wall 314 is also minimizedsuch that it is nearly flat with the base 312, but this is optional.

An liner 540 according to another embodiment is shown in FIG. 22. Theliner 540 is specifically designed for the tray 310 of FIG. 21. Theliner 540 includes a base 542 (again, could be corrugated), side walls548 and a front wall 554 which is a double wall (inner wall and outerwall).

In FIG. 23, the liner 540 is being removed from the tray 310. As shown,the front wall 554 of the liner 540 supplies much of what is missingfrom the minimized front wall 314 of the tray 310. Preferably, the frontwall 554 interlocks with the front wall 314 to provide additionalstrength and stiffness to the tray 310. FIG. 24 shows the liner 540 inthe tray 310. The front wall 314 of the tray 310 is received between theinner and outer walls of the liner 540. Alternatively, at least theouter wall of the front wall 554 of the liner 540 is outward of thefront wall 314 of the tray 310.

As is shown schematically in FIG. 25, a pattern can be molded into the(otherwise) smooth exterior surface of the tray 310. In the exampleshown, a basket weave pattern is molded into the exterior surface of theouter wall of the side walls of the tray 310. The pattern could also bemolded into the exterior surfaces of the front and rear walls. Thepattern is completely non-structural. The pattern is decorative andincludes very shallow recesses and projections to make the pattern(i.e., not structural).

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes andjurisprudence, exemplary configurations described above are consideredto represent a preferred embodiment of the invention. However, it shouldbe noted that the invention can be practiced otherwise than asspecifically illustrated and described without departing from its spiritor scope.

What is claimed is:
 1. A tray assembly comprising: a tray including abase, a pair of opposed side walls extending upward from side edges ofthe base, and front and rear walls extending upward from front and rearedges of the base, the front and rear walls substantially shorter thanthe side walls, wherein the tray is injection molded as a single pieceof plastic; and a liner having a base wall and a pair of opposed sidewalls, the liner removably received within the tray.
 2. The trayassembly of claim 1 wherein the base wall of the liner is approximatelythe same size as the base of the tray.
 3. The tray assembly of claim 1wherein the liner is a thermoformed sheet of plastic.
 4. The trayassembly of claim 1 wherein the liner includes a handle formed in eachof the side walls.
 5. The tray assembly of claim 1 wherein a front edgeof the base wall of the liner is open.
 6. The tray assembly of claim 1wherein the side walls of the tray include a plurality of feet and aplurality of pockets such that the tray can be stacked on an identicaltray at two different stacking heights.
 7. The tray assembly of claim 1wherein the base of the tray includes large openings forming a majorityof the area of the base.
 8. The tray assembly of claim 1 furtherincluding a reinforcement member secured to the front wall of the tray.9. The tray assembly of claim 8 wherein the front wall includes aninterior wall and a lip spaced outward from the interior wall andwherein the reinforcement member is disposed between the interior walland the lip.
 10. The tray assembly of claim 9 wherein the reinforcementmember is formed of a material different from that of the tray.
 11. Thetray assembly of claim 1 wherein the side walls of the liner are tallerthan the side walls of the tray.
 12. The tray assembly of claim 11wherein the side walls of the liner each include an upper portionmovable between an upright vertical position and an inward position. 13.The tray assembly of claim 12 wherein the upper portions of the linereach include a handle.
 14. The tray assembly of claim 1 wherein the basewall of the liner is corrugated.
 15. The tray assembly of claim 1wherein the base wall of the liner is not flat.
 16. The tray assembly ofclaim 1 wherein the liner includes a front wall received in front of thefront wall of the tray.
 17. The tray assembly of claim 1 wherein theliner includes a rear wall.
 18. The tray assembly of claim 1 wherein thetray includes a decorative pattern molded into an exterior surfacethereof.
 19. A tray comprising: a base; a pair of opposed side wallsextending upward from side edges of the base, the side walls trayincluding a plurality of feet and a plurality of pockets such that thetray can be stacked on an identical tray at two different stackingheights; front and rear walls extending upward from front and rear edgesof the base, the front and rear walls substantially shorter than theside walls; and a reinforcement member secured to the front wall of thetray.
 20. The tray of claim 19 wherein the front wall includes aninterior wall and a lip spaced outward from the interior wall andwherein the reinforcement member is disposed between the interior walland the lip.
 21. The tray of claim 19 wherein the tray is injectionmolded as a single piece of plastic and the reinforcement member isformed of a material different from that of the tray.
 22. The tray ofclaim 19 wherein the base of the tray includes large openings forming amajority of the area of the base.
 23. The tray of claim 22 wherein ribsin the base of the tray cover less than 15% of the base.
 24. A traycomprising: a base; a pair of opposed side walls extending upward fromside edges of the base, the side walls tray including a plurality offeet and a plurality of pockets such that the tray can be stacked on anidentical tray at two different stacking heights; and front and rearwalls extending upward from front and rear edges of the base, the frontand rear walls substantially shorter than the side walls; wherein anexterior surface of the tray includes a decorative pattern moldedtherein.